Who exactly is a minority in Arunachal?

With seven districts of Arunachal Pradesh being declared "minority concentration districts" and included in the Multi-sectoral Development Programme (MsDP) for welfare of minorities, questions are being raised as to who exactly are minorities in the state that shares 1,080 km of boundary with China.

While the question was originally raised by the Indigenous Faith and Cultural Society of Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP state unit has now asked the state Congress government to clarify on what basis it declared the seven districts "minority concentrated" and which were the communities identified as minority.

The guidelines of the Ministry of Minority Affairs for implementing the MsDP programme, under the Twelfth Plan, define "minorities" as "Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis)".

But till a few years ago, Buddhists were the largest single religious segment in Arunachal. With Christianity spreading fast, the Buddhists have been relegated to the second position (13 per cent compared to 18.7 per cent Christians in the 2001 Census). While the religion-wise population break-up of the 2011 Census is yet to be released, the Christian numbers are only expected to have risen.

The predominantly tribal state also has a sizeable Muslim population (1.9 per cent), while Sikhs make up 0.1 per cent as per the 2001 census. But none of them is domiciled in the state as its laws do not permit people from other states from acquiring land and property in Arunachal Pradesh.

Ninong Ering, Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs — a Lok Sabha MP from the state — had stated recently that 40 per cent of the state's population qualified as minority. Going by the definition of 'minority' in the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992, Ering is correct — the total Buddhist, Christian and Muslim population in Arunachal is expected to have crossed the 40 per cent mark in the 2011 Census.

But what it also means is that a sizeable section of the state's population who lives in the seven MsDP-covered districts is now enjoing double benefit, first as Scheduled Tribe (extended to the entire state) and then as 'minorities'. Apart from fears that it may encourage conversions, the IFCSAP and BJP also claim that with the tag 'minority' being attached to seven districts, the ones who may benefit are illegal Bangladeshi migrants.

Source : The Indian Express